Fluttershy and the Iron Giant
by Nausicaa of the Spirits
Summary: AU fic. What if the Iron Giant didn't land on Earth? What if he landed in Equestria and met a certain animal-loving Pegasus?
1. Default Chapter

Summary: AU fic. What if the Iron Giant didn't land on Earth? What if he landed in Equestria and met a certain animal-loving Pegasus?

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or The Iron Giant. MLP: FIM belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro and The Iron Giant belongs to Brad Bird and Warner Bros. Animation.

A/N: So, the idea for this crossover fic came about a few months ago on a Cartoon X-Over forum where a friend I traded some ideas for it for a few pages and then came around again after I watched the movie twice. Also, this is my first shot at writing an MLP fan fic, so forgive me if the characters seem OOC.

* * *

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_I'm writing to you for Fluttershy because she's been too depressed by the events of this past week that has resulted in the loss of a dear friend of hers. I myself am finding it hard to write because I still can't believe what's happened this week that brought about these events. It all began the day after ponies witnessed a fiery object land in the Everfree Forest at night…_


	2. Encounter

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813** and **k****iddi** for reviewing!

* * *

It was morning in Ponyville and the oddest thing had happened last night. A mysterious flying object had landed in the Everfree Forest and in the morning, the Apple family had discovered giant bite marks in their farming equipment.

One pony had claimed to see the thing that had landed in the Everfree Forest and that pony had been none other than Zecora, who had described it, saying, "It was a giant metal monster with two legs and glowing eyes. I tell no lies."

Most everyone had not taken Zecora seriously, but the few who did were ponies that had also claimed to see the 'monster' when they were in the Everfree Forest late at night.

All this was being discussed by the Mane Six, who were gathered at Sugarcube Corner, having tea and goodies.

"So, what exactly are these ponies going to do about this monster?" asked Rarity.

"Well, I heard they were going to set a trap for it out in the Everfree Forest tonight," Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah, that's right," Applejack said. "They're gonna get a big strong net and lay out some metal objects for it. Once it grabs the objects, it's as good as trapped!"

"Ooh, if it works, I'll set up a victory party tomorrow!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Well, I hope they don't catch it," said Fluttershy. Seeing everyone giving her a confused look, she clarified, "What I mean is it doesn't seem right to do something like that to it. Trap it like an innocent animal. It didn't do anything wrong." Noticing Applejack giving her a glare, Fluttershy added, "Aside from eating your family's work equipment, of course."

* * *

That night, after Fluttershy had fed her animal friends and put them to bed, Angel started to act strange.

"Angel, what's wrong?" asked Fluttershy, as Angel then hid behind her legs.

And then she heard it. There were loud pounding footsteps and they were coming from outside. She immediately headed to the door, opened it, and looked outside. There wasn't anything outside, but then she glanced at the chicken coop and saw the roof was missing and the chickens were outside, running around in a panic. After calming the chickens down and sending them back into the coop, using the Stare when some refused to go in, she was about to go back into her house when she almost tripped over something. To her surprise, it was the roof of the chicken coop and there was a giant bite taken out of it.

She then noticed something else. There were giant footprints leading away from the chicken coop and into the Everfree Forest. Curiosity won out over fear as she ventured in, following the footprints. As she made her way in, she noticed several wrecked trees bending at different angles or otherwise knocked over.

_Easy, Fluttershy,_ she thought. _You've made it through this place before and you can do it again._

But then, her mind ran down an unnecessary line of thought: _Except it was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Elizabeak you were looking for and a cockatrice you protected them from, not a giant two-legged metal monster with glowing eyes that could possibly exist._

She shook her head and said, "There's no such thing as a giant metal monster." But then she started to get nervous, as she said, "Or is there?"

An animal noise startled her and she flinched. Her heart started to pound and she considered turning back, but then her mind started to play tricks on her. It seemed like the wrecked trees were blocking the way she had gone in. With a nervous gulp, she continued following the footprints through the forest.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew some dead leaves at her and she flinched and braced herself. Once it was over, she nervously continued through, until a howl distracted her and she immediately walked faster, only to yelp in terror when she saw a ghost with glowing eyes.

"Ghost!" She shrieked and jumped back, hiding behind a rock.

She peeked out, but saw it was only a tree and two fireflies flew out of the hollow. She sighed in relief.

Her relief was short-lived as she heard a voice croak, "Fluttershy," again and again, making her freeze up in terror.

Her common sense was screaming for her to turn back and go home, but she continued through, not even noticing that the giant footprints had gone in another direction.

She started panicking as she imagined a few trees looking like monsters. As she began to quicken her pace and pass a tree, the wind moved a branch shaped like a hand and Fluttershy yelped in terror as the branch touched her back and she shot up into the air, gasping as she got caught up in some spider webs and a bat flew at her, squeaking, "Beware, beware!"

She landed in a clearing and looked around, seeing a bunch of metal items on the ground nearby. It was the trap for the giant metal monster. Then she heard a rustling sound from a nearby bush. Was the metal monster here? Taking a deep breath, she nervously approached the bush and parted it and quickly jumped back and covered her head, as something flew at her. Uncovering her head, she saw it was only a couple of crows flying off into the night.

She started to giggle in relief. Then she started laughing hysterically.

She stopped laughing and said, "Well, that's a relief. For a minute there, I thought that giant metal monster was going to—"

But then she stopped when she heard the sound of loud pounding footsteps again. And they were coming in her direction. She turned and saw a giant figure with glowing eyes marching over.

"The monster!" She shrieked, before she turned and ran away, trying to outrun the monster.

However, she tripped and quickly covered her head, waiting to be squashed to a pulp by the monster's foot. She heard something land in front of her and uncovered her head to see the metal foot in front of her moving away towards the trap.

She then watched as it picked up a piece of metal lying outside of the trap and began eating it with her flinching each time he bit the metal. Once it was finished with that piece of metal, it then moved closer and reached toward another piece of metal, one which was unfortunately in the trap, as Fluttershy's eyes widened in horror, realizing what was about to happen next.

As it grabbed the piece of metal, it triggered the trap, causing the net to wrap around it and trap it with the metal pieces. It screamed and started thrashing about. Its scream sent chills up Fluttershy's spine, as she trembled and covered her ears. Immediately, she turned and ran away. But then she stopped and hesitated, hearing those awful screams from afar, and remembered her words to the Mane Six about the trap the ponies were setting up for the monster. Quickly heading back to where the trapped monster was, she began scanning the tree the net was in for the rope.

Once she spotted the rope, she then muttered, "Don't worry, big guy. I'll get you out of there."

With that said, she flew over and cut the rope with her teeth. After that was done, she flinched as she heard a crashing sound, before turning to see that the monster had fallen with the net and the lights in its eyes were out.

Fluttershy stared curiously at the giant metal monster before she silently flew up to examine it closely. Picking up a small rock, she tossed it at it and quickly ducked down. When it didn't move, she climbed up onto it and gazed curiously into its open mouth, before dropping a small rock into it and looking slightly fascinated at the echoes from within as it dropped inside.

Suddenly, a light shone behind her and she turned, only to yelp in terror when she saw the light was coming from the monster's eyes, before her wings immediately folded to her side and she fell down, landing on her back looking the way she had when she, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity had gone to get rid of the napping dragon that had nearly caused Ponyville to get enshrouded in smoke for a hundred years. As the creature got up, Fluttershy immediately ran away, panicking when she heard loud pounding footsteps.

_C'mon, wings! Fly, fly!_ She thought, trying to get her wings to unfold.

No sooner did they start flapping, she immediately flew at a speed so fast that it would've put the Sonic Rainboom to shame. Suddenly, she bumped into someone and they both landed on the ground.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy exclaimed when she saw who it was she bumped into.

"Fluttershy?" said Rainbow Dash. "What are you doing out here?"

"I-I saw it!" Fluttershy said. "The-The giant metal monster Zecora was talking about! It's right behind—" She turned to point behind her, only to look surprised when she saw nothing. "It's gone." She turned back and noticed Dash giving her a skeptical look and Fluttershy said, "It was right behind me, I swear!"

Dash sighed and shook her head, saying, "Fluttershy, you were just seeing things. C'mon, let's get you home."

"Okay," Fluttershy said with a sigh.

She glanced back one last time before flying off to her home with Dash. Once they had parted ways at her house, Fluttershy walked to the door, but stopped, having the feeling that something was watching her, and looked back at the Everfree Forest. As she did, she could've sworn she saw the giant metal creature towering above the treetops staring at her and tilting its head curiously. Fluttershy stared for a while longer before going into her house.

* * *

The giant watched as the small yellow four-legged creature with wings glanced back at him near a small little place that almost resembled the surrounding area he was in. He had been trapped in those ropes, unable to move, after eating some of the metal that had been laid out on the ground that had triggered what seemed to be a trap. And then he had caught a glimpse of a small yellow creature flying over, heard the snapping of a rope, and dropped to the ground, getting knocked out.

Seconds later, he had come around to discover the small yellow creature on his face, before it squeaked in terror, its wings folded to its side and had dropped to the ground, recovering to get up and run away. It had then started flying away before it bumped into something and fell over. Once it had recovered, he saw that it had had bumped into another small four-legged creature with wings, but this one was blue and had multi-colored fur on its head and tail.

He heard the yellow creature call the blue creature 'Rainbow Dash' and then heard the Rainbow Dash call the yellow creature 'Fluttershy' and ask what it was doing out here.

The Fluttershy started babbling about a giant metal monster and then he realized it was talking about him and hid as it pointed its hoof in his direction only to look surprised when it saw nothing before turning back to the Rainbow Dash to find it looking skeptical, before saying it had probably just been seeing things before it said, "Let's get you home."

The Fluttershy began to do so, before looking back again and then flying off with the Rainbow Dash. He then watched as the Rainbow Dash left after the Fluttershy was safely at the little place, before watching as the Fluttershy walked up to a hole, which lit up, before it paused and looked back, seeing him. He tilted his head curiously as he watched it stare at him for a while before turning away and going through the lit-up hole, which faded away.

These four-legged creatures were intriguing. Some of them were normal (except for the white and black four-legged creature he had encountered a while ago), while others had horns on their heads and others had wings on their backs, like the Fluttershy and the Rainbow Dash.

Heading back to where the trap had been laid out, he picked up a part of the ropes. The Fluttershy had saved its life. He wanted to see it again and he hoped it would come here again.


	3. Dangerous or Friendly?

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813** for reviewing!

* * *

The next day, Fluttershy was in Ponyville, running a few errands, one of which included talking to Twilight about the metal monster she had encountered last night and finding out what it was. Of course she couldn't exactly tell Twilight that she had seen the metal monster. She just had to ask what it was.

She was busy rehearsing what she was going to ask Twilight about the metal creature when she approached the library where Twilight and Spike lived. After she was certain she had rehearsed what she wanted to say, she knocked on the door and the door opened, revealing Twilight.

"Hey, Fluttershy," Twilight said, "what brings you here?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something," Fluttershy said.

"Go ahead," Twilight said.

"Say, someone went out into the Everfree Forest last night," said Fluttershy, "and they managed to get a good look at the giant metal monster that everypony's been talking about since the night Zecora encountered it."

Twilight looked interested as she said, "Really? Come on in." Fluttershy followed her in and watched as Twilight walked over to her desk where several books were piled up. "Now, whoever saw it," Twilight said, using her magic to open a book and flip the cover open, "what did they say it looked like?"

"Well," Fluttershy said, "it had glowing eyes like Zecora said it did and it was as tall as one of those skyscrapers in Manehattan."

"Did they notice anything else about it?" asked Twilight.

"Aside from it eating metal?" asked Fluttershy. "No, it was too dark. What is it anyway?"

"I've had my suspicions about what that giant metal monster is," Twilight said. "What Zecora and everypony else saw is a robot. I don't know what type of robot it is yet. If I could just get a good look at it, I might be able to tell whether or not it's dangerous."

"Dangerous?" asked Fluttershy.

"Right," Twilight said. "If it isn't a giant killing machine, we're okay."

"And if it is?"

"Then we have to worry and call in an army from Canterlot," said Twilight. "Anything else you wanted to ask?"

"Um, not really," Fluttershy said, before she turned to leave. "Thanks for your help, Twilight."

"No problem, Fluttershy," Twilight said.

* * *

A few hours later found Fluttershy carrying a discarded shield, which she had brought when she was in Ponyville, using the skills Pinkie Pie had taught her to haggle for a lower price, into the Everfree Forest.

"Hello, Mr. Giant Robot?" Fluttershy called, as she walked further in. "It's me, Fluttershy, the pony who got you out of that net! I've got a piece of metal here for you." After setting the shield down against a stump, she called out, "Go ahead, help yourself!" before she began to fly home.

She had only flown a few yards away from the clearing before she stopped to nap for a little bit. A few hours had passed before she opened her eyes briefly and was about to go back to sleep when she heard a sound that made her head shoot up.

"Hello?" She called.

No answer.

On edge, she slowly backed away, until she bumped into something that almost made her jump out of her fur. She turned fast to see what she had bumped into and let out a gasp. The shield she had left for the giant robot; it was lying against a tree!

_Something moved it,_ she thought. She then noticed something standing by the tree and realized, _And whatever moved it is still here._

Her gaze nervously traveled upward to see the giant robot looking down at her.

Fluttershy was frozen in terror before she screamed at the top of her lungs and immediately flew away. As she flew, she nervously glanced back only to panic when she saw the robot starting to follow. Each step the robot was taking was covering the distance she was trying to put between them. She flew over a log, flinching when she heard the robot's foot crush the log and realizing what could very well have happened to her if she hadn't made it over the log in time. She continued flying until…

WHAM!

She bumped into a low-hanging branch and landed on her back, out cold for the moment, as the giant robot approached. She got up, seeing stars for a moment, before she froze as the robot's shadow loomed over her. She turned and looked up at the robot.

Seconds passed before the robot bent down as if to get a better look at her and Fluttershy scrambled backward, eyeing it warily. The robot then leaned back so it was sitting, causing the ground to shake and Fluttershy to jump an inch off the ground for a second. Fluttershy still eyed the robot warily, waiting for something else to happen.

When nothing happened, she let her guard down as she asked, "So, you aren't going to hurt me, are you?"

Suddenly, the robot reached towards her with a closed fist, making her yelp and brace herself. However, she heard something drop in front of her and she uncovered her head to see it was part of the net and part of the rope.

"The net and the rope used to hold it," she said, before looking up at the robot. "You saw me save you." It tilted its head at her and she almost thought it was adorable, before she asked, "So, where did you come from?" The robot didn't answer. Remembering the books in Twilight's library about outer space, she asked, "Did you come from the sky?" Once again, the robot didn't answer even when Fluttershy gestured upward. She looked concerned as she asked, "Don't you remember anything?" The robot just stared at her curiously and Fluttershy noticed what looked like a dent on its head, before she said, "I wonder if it has something to do with that bump on your head."

The robot reached up and scratched the dent on its head.

"Well, do you talk?" asked Fluttershy. "You know, words? 'Blah-blah-blah,' like that? Can you do that? 'Blah-blah-blah?'"

The robot mimicked her mouth movements, as it said, "Blah-blah-blah."

Fluttershy cringed slightly, before saying, "Well…I think you get it." Then she said to herself, "Let's see, what else?" She picked up a rock and showed it to the robot, as she said, "See this? This is called a rock. Rock."

"Rrrrrroooooooogggggg," it said, causing her to go deaf temporarily.

Fluttershy cleaned her ear, as she said, "Good."

The robot reached over her and grabbed a boulder, before it asked, "Rog?"

"Yes," Fluttershy said with a nod.

The robot then grabbed a pine tree and said, "Rog!"

"No, no, that's a tree," Fluttershy said, before pointing at the rock, as she said, "Rock," and pointed at the tree, "Tree. Understand?"

"Rock," the robot said, referring to the rock in his left hand, before referring to the tree in his right hand as he said, "Tree."

"That's right," Fluttershy said, before saying to herself, "The girls will never believe this. Maybe I should—" But then, she shook her head, saying, "No, no. Can't do that. I can only imagine how Rarity would react."

She almost snickered as she imagined what Rarity's reaction would be. The minute she saw the robot, she would probably faint. Fluttershy began to pace back and forth, mulling over what she couldn't do.

Her pacing only stopped when she glanced up at the sky and said, "Oh, it's getting late." She turned to the robot and said, "Listen, I have to go home now. Don't go anywhere; just stay here. I'll come back tomorrow." The robot got up and Fluttershy just stared at him in awe for a moment, before saying, "Well, good-bye."

She had just begun to fly back to her house when she heard stomping footsteps behind her, before she turned and said, "No, no. Me go, you stay. No following." Thinking he understood, Fluttershy began to fly away again only to hear the robot's stomping footsteps behind her again. Fluttershy gritted her teeth. There were times she rarely got annoyed and right now, this was turning into one of them. "Look, I've told you," she said, turning back to the robot. "I'll come back tomorrow. Now, stay!" She backed away a few steps, keeping an eye on it, as she said, "Stay."

She began to fly away again when she heard the robot following her again. It was time to use the Stare.

The giant followed Fluttershy until she stopped and turned around. He noticed she was now giving him a very frightening glare that seemed to radiate power.

"For the last time," she said to him, "you can't come home with me! Now stay here until I come back tomorrow!"

She backed away two paces, then four paces, then eight, and then sixteen, all while checking to make sure he was staying where he was.

_I wouldn't be surprised if he stood there until I come back tomorrow,_ she thought, as she began to fly away.

But as she did, she was surprised when she heard him following her again. She couldn't believe it. The Stare had actually failed!

"No, no, no!" Fluttershy yelled, getting frustrated, as he continued following her. She then scolded him like a dog who had done something naughty, "Bad giant!"


	4. Train Wreck

Thanks to **godzillafan1**, **KTKomedy2813**, and **Princess Crazy** for reviewing!

* * *

Hours had passed as Fluttershy made her way back home. To her annoyance, the giant was still following her like a little lost puppy.

"I see you back there," she called, without looking back. At this, the giant ran over and crouched behind a group of trees, failing because of how small they were. She sighed and turned to him, as he came out and she said, "Look, I know you want to come home with me, but you can't. There are animals I take care of at home and friends who come see me and if they see you, they'll get scared." Noticing his puzzled look, she clarified, "Scared, like…" She then demonstrated what scared was by folding up her wings and then falling onto her back.

The giant then seemed to understand what she meant by scared as he mimicked what she did and then looked at her, before Fluttershy said, "Yes, like that. So, until tomorrow, just stay here, okay? I'll bring some more metal with me when I come back. Bye."

She was just passing a set of railroad tracks when she turned and noticed the giant eyeing the railroad tracks curiously.

"Hey, wait a minute," Fluttershy said as he took a bite out of the railroad track ripping it up. "What in Equestria do you think you're doing?" He stopped and looked at her, as she said, "Oh, look at this mess."

Suddenly she heard the train and said, "Uh-oh." She frantically said to the giant, "Quick, put it back!" Immediately, she flew up to the track and began trying to shove the track back into place, saying, "C'mon, help me! I need your help!"

The giant looked at her curiously, before he shoved the tracks back onto the ground.

"Good boy," she said, before she looked down the tracks and saw the telltale signs of the train approaching. _Oh boy, we've gotta hurry!_ She thought, before she gestured to the two crooked tracks and said, "Put them together, like this." She gestured to one track, saying, "This one here," and gestured to another, as she added, "That one there." The giant began to work on lining the first track up, as Fluttershy said, "Okay, over, over." Once the first track was connected, Fluttershy said, "Good, good. Now, the other one!" The giant began working on the other track, as Fluttershy said, "Okay, alright, that's good enough. Now, let's get out of here!"

She began to fly away until she stopped and realized the giant wasn't behind her, before she turned and saw the giant still trying to fix the second track, while the train was coming toward him.

Fluttershy flew back, crying, "It's fine! Leave it! The train is coming! The train is coming!" But the giant ignored her screams, as he continued trying to line the tracks up, as she said, "Let's go!"

Finally, the tracks were lined up, much to the giant's delight, before he looked up to see the train coming towards him. Realizing there was nothing else she could do, she flew away and landed on the hill, flinching as she heard a crash, causing her to go tumbling down the steep hill before she landed on the ground below, bracing herself. She looked back, watching as the train came to a stop. Suddenly, the giant landed right in front of her, causing her to jump and scream, before she put a hoof to her chest, trying to calm her pounding heart. She watched as pieces of the giant followed, landing in separate directions.

"Oh no," Fluttershy whimpered, thinking he was dead. "No, no, no." She began crying until the giant moved his arm, startling her, as his eyes lit up again. "You're alive!" She cried in relief.

To her surprise, an antenna came out of his head and began beeping. She then noticed the detached parts of the giant standing up and moving toward him.

Fluttershy looked absolutely amazed as she watched, until she heard the conductor call out, "Hello, anybody out there?"

"Oh boy," Fluttershy muttered, before saying, "Okay, changed my mind. You can come home with me!" She flew off, saying, "Let's go!"

* * *

Soon, they had both arrived at Fluttershy's home. Fluttershy hoped that the conductor and anyone else on the train hadn't seen the giant, but she definitely knew that the news about the train crash would spread all over Ponyville like wildfire. What worried her was that everypony was hearing about it now, but she desperately hoped that they wouldn't hear about it until tomorrow.

After calming the animals and reassuring them that the giant wouldn't hurt them and that he was a friend, Fluttershy led him to an area behind her cottage. Once there, she watched in fascination as the pieces of the giant moved towards him, his forearms reattaching themselves to his arms and fingers reattaching themselves onto his hands. She felt something move against one of her hooves and looked down to see a screw trying to move through her hoof. Lifting her hoof up, she watched as it rolled over to the giant, who picked it up and held it up to the right side of his jaw. It automatically screwed itself back in. After moving his jaw, he turned and gave Fluttershy an adorable smile that she couldn't resist returning.

At that moment, Angel ran up, tugging on her leg, and pointed toward her house and the front door, where Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were.

"Oh no, I forgot!" said Fluttershy. "I'm supposed to babysit the girls tonight!" She then told the giant, "Now stay here and stay out of sight! I'll be back later! Bye!"

With that, she and Angel quickly hurried to her cottage, heading through the back door.

The giant waved to her, saying, "Bye."

But then he noticed the arm he had used to wave to Fluttershy was missing its hand, which he looked around for.


	5. Close Call

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813** for reviewing!

* * *

Things were going pretty well that evening, at least until dinner rolled around.

"Now which one of you girls would like to say grace?" Fluttershy asked Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.

"Not me!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said quickly. Unfortunately, Scootaloo wasn't fast enough, as she let out a defeated sigh and was about to pray when she just so happened to look up…

…to see the giant's hand scuttling about a few feet away from Fluttershy. Of course, she mistook it for a giant three-legged mutant creature.

"Oh, Celestia," Scootaloo said in shock, until she noticed Fluttershy, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle giving her an odd look. She then began, keeping an eye on the hand and making sure not to draw attention to it, "Er, oh, Celestia, we…thank you for the food that our babysitter, Fluttershy, has put in front of us and—" the hand was about to peer into a vase, making her yell, "STOP!" The hand stopped and turned to her, as Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom looked at her in confusion, before she said, "Uh, the bad guys Rainbow Dash and her friends face every day from doing bad things and—" She made a 'go away' gesture to the hand, "GET OUTTA HERE!" She then said, "Nightmare Moon?" She then said to the claw, "GO! GO!" The hand quickly left just as Fluttershy glanced behind her and Scootaloo finished the prayer, "So that we may live in peace. Amen."

"Amen," Fluttershy, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle said, still eyeing her in confusion.

"That was kinda weird, Scootaloo," said Sweetie Belle.

"Hey, you try saying grace when you see a giant three-legged mutant creature behind our babysitter," Scootaloo retorted.

Fluttershy looked puzzled, wondering what Scootaloo meant by a giant three-legged mutant creature, until she realized that the giant was missing a hand.

"Could you girls excuse me for just a moment?" Fluttershy asked and then left the table without waiting for an answer.

The girls watched as she went into a room and shut the door behind her. A moment passed in which they could hear crashing sounds coming from the room and Fluttershy yelling, "Get out, GET OUT, **GET OUT!**"

"What do ya think she's doing in there?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Probably getting rid of that giant three-legged mutant creature," said Scootaloo.

"Maybe we should help her," Sweetie Belle suggested.

"I wonder if there's a cutie mark for helping babysitters get rid of giant three-legged mutant creatures?" asked Scootaloo, as they headed toward the room Fluttershy was in.

Inside, Fluttershy, who had been trying to guide the giant's hand to the back door, froze when she heard the girls coming, before she immediately began shoving the hand to the door. It took at least three shoves to get the hand through the door and once it was through, she fell over, panting, but got up to peer out the door and watch as the hand scuttled away back to its owner just as Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo came in.

"Don't worry, girls," Fluttershy said. "It's gone now."

"Awww," the girls groaned, looking disappointed.

Fluttershy spent the rest of the night playing games with the girls, until it was time for bed. Once the girls were in bed, Fluttershy went outside.

Once she had gotten to the secluded area she had left the giant in, she set her saddlebag down and told him, "Look, if you're going to stay here, you have to keep better track of yourself." She sat down and said, "Anyway, I thought you might like to hear some stories. I've got a few you might like."

A couple hours passed as Fluttershy told him all about her life, such as how she got her cutie mark, even adding in an explanation of what a cutie mark was after seeing his confused look.

When he asked if he would get a cutie mark, she thought for a moment before saying, "Well…I don't know."

She then went on to explain what she did with her friends, how she was one of the Elements of Harmony, the Element of Kindness. It was when Fluttershy got to the bad guys that she had to explain what they were.

"The bad guys are direct opposites of good guys," she said. "They like doing bad things like hurting other ponies both outside and inside. But you're not like them at all."

"Good guy?" He asked her.

Fluttershy nodded and said, "Yes, I'm a good guy and so are you."

The two smiled at each other, until they both heard his stomach growl.

"Hungry, aren't you?" asked Fluttershy. "How about we go looking for that shield I left for you back in the Everfree Forest? It may not be much, but I'll be able to get you some more metal tomorrow."

After checking to see if the girls were still in bed, which they were, she placed a pillow on the couch and covered it up with a blanket to make it look like she was there sleeping.

A moment later, Fluttershy was ready to go and the giant lowered his hand for her to get on.

Once Fluttershy got on, she said, "Okay, lift me up."

She yelped in surprise when he lifted her up quickly. Once she recovered, however, she was completely in awe, wondering why she never flew this high, until she remembered her fear of heights, but now she realized it wasn't that bad.

"Okay, march," she told the giant.

She yelped again when the giant began to move, before she pulled herself up, clinging to one of the giant's fingers for support. She began to relax at the feel of the wind blowing through her mane. As they were heading into the Everfree Forest, the giant stopped, noticing the small little town nearby.

Fluttershy saw what he was looking at and said, "Oh, that's Ponyville."

"Ponyville?" He asked curiously.

"Mm-hmm," said Fluttershy, "some of my friends live down there." She pointed out the library, Sugarcube Corner, and Carousel Boutique respectively as she said, "Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie and Rar—"

But then she yelped as he began running toward Ponyville, causing her to lurch, and yelled gleefully, "Ponyville!"

"No, no, wait, wait, wait!" yelled Fluttershy, trying to stop him. "No, no, stop, stop!" She flinched as she hit tree branches, even as she tried to yell, "Not there, not there! We can't go there! Stop, wait!" Then she took a deep breath and yelled at the top of her lungs, "STOP!"

He stopped in his tracks a few yards away from Ponyville and looked at her. She'd never yelled like that before.

Seeing that she had his attention, she said, "I'm sorry, Giant, but we can't go there yet. Everypony's just not ready for you."

The giant groaned in disappointment before he walked away while Fluttershy quickly scanned Ponyville to see if there had been anypony out that had seen him. Seeing that there hadn't, she sighed in relief.

Once they were far away from Ponyville and deep in the Everfree Forest and found the shield, Giant munched on it as Fluttershy told him, "That was close. You can't go running around like that. It'll make it easy for you to get caught that way." After he had finished eating the shield, she said, "C'mon, let's go back now."

Thankfully, the girls were still asleep when she got home and she said softly, "Huh, those girls are heavy sleepers."

After replacing the pillow under the blanket with herself, she then went to sleep.


	6. What To Do, What Not to Do

Thanks to **Guest**, **KTKomedy2813**, and **Anonymous** for reviewing!

* * *

The next day, as Fluttershy had expected, news of the train crash had already spread through Ponyville. She was busy buying metal to feed Giant while trying to appear calm as she overheard two ponies discussing the train crash.

"So what did the conductor say hit his train?" The pony asked.

"He said some sort of giant metal monster," the other pony answered.

After gathering up all the metal she needed to feed Giant and haggling for a lower price, Fluttershy paid for what she needed and was about to head back to her cottage with the metal when Applejack came up to her.

"Howdy, Fluttershy!" said Applejack.

"Oh, hi, Applejack," said Fluttershy.

"Whatcha doin' with all that metal there?" asked Applejack.

Fluttershy wondered what she could say. She couldn't say, 'Oh, I'm bringing this home for food for the giant metal monster that's living behind my house.'

"Oh, this is just for a project the girls and I are working on," Fluttershy lied. "We're making metal statues of anything we want to."

"Funny," said Applejack. "I don't remember Apple Bloom mentioning you guys working on a project."

"Well…it's a surprise," Fluttershy said. "The next time they come over, we're gonna start working on it."

"Well, ya want some help gettin' that to yer house?" asked Applejack.

Fluttershy was about to say no, until she realized that she couldn't carry all this back by herself.

_Well, Giant will be safe so long as Applejack doesn't see him,_ she thought. _Once we get close enough to my house, I'll just tell her that I'll carry it back from there._

"Sure," said Fluttershy.

The two loaded the metal Fluttershy had brought onto a cart Applejack had with her and began making their way to Fluttershy's house.

Once they were close enough to her house, Fluttershy said, "Thanks, Applejack. I'll carry it back from here."

"Ya sure ya don't need a helpin' hoof?" asked Applejack.

"I'll be fine," said Fluttershy.

"Are you okay, Fluttershy?" Applejack asked her in concern.

"Of course I am," said Fluttershy. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Apple Bloom told me that you were actin' really strange last night during dinner," said Applejack.

"Strange? Strange?" Fluttershy said, starting to sweat nervously. "Who's acting strange? Not me! Now, if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get this metal into my house!" With that, she sped to her cottage with the cart of metal. After unloading the metal, she then dashed back to Applejack, returning her cart and saying in a hurried manner, "Thank-you-for-helping-me-with-the-metal-Applejack-here's-your-cart-back-thanks-again-bye!" and then zipping back into her house, shutting the door.

"Apple Bloom was right," said Applejack. "She _is_ actin' strange."

* * *

Inside her house, Fluttershy was a nervous wreck. She would've been just fine with hearing about the train wreck, but hearing that Apple Bloom had told her older sister that she was acting strange had nearly sent her into a panic attack.

"Maybe I should tell the others about Giant," she said to herself as she began pacing. "No, no, no, I can't do that! The first thing Twilight will do after seeing him will be sending a letter to Princess Celestia telling her to send an army after him! And really, he's not dangerous. At all! I mean he's like a child and a little lost puppy. But the others wouldn't see it that way. But, maybe if I could try and show them…"

She groaned in frustration and lightly bonked her head on the wall.

Many thoughts were swirling around in her head, but the one that recurred the most was: _What am I gonna do?_


	7. Twilight, Applejack, and Dash Find Out

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813** and **Anonymous** for reviewing!

* * *

Giant watched as Fluttershy came out, lugging a few pieces of metal outside. She looked really worried about something. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but decided not to. She could tell him when she was ready.

As he ate, he watched as Fluttershy sat down beside him, staring off into the distance before saying, "Oh, Giant, what am I gonna do with you?" before going in to her house.

Fluttershy spent the rest of the afternoon in her house, resting and feeding the animals. She had only one decision now: tell her friends about Giant or keep hiding him until one of them found out.

She was considering hitting the sack early after feeding the animals and Giant. Twilight had said that the only way to make a good decision was to sleep on it.

Night fell as Fluttershy lugged out a pile of metal to Giant for him to eat. Once she was inside, she was about to walk upstairs and go to bed when there was a knock on her door.

Wondering who it was, Fluttershy went to answer the door and looked surprised when she saw Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.

"Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy. "What a pleasant surprise! Come in!" She stepped aside so they could come in, before she asked, "So, what brings you girls here?"

"We just wanted to talk, Fluttershy," said Rainbow Dash.

"About what?" asked Fluttershy, before she glanced out a window and saw Giant nearby.

He waved to her, but she quickly shut the curtains. Luckily, neither Twilight, Rainbow Dash, nor Applejack noticed.

"About how weird ya've been actin' lately," said Applejack.

"What do you mean?" asked Fluttershy.

"Well, let's see," said Applejack. "Ya were actin' strange during dinner last night with the girls and early today before we came back to your house with the metal. Is there somethin' ya haven't been tellin' us, Fluttershy?"

Suddenly, before Fluttershy could answer, the girls heard a faint rumble outside.

"What was that?" asked Twilight.

"Um…nothing?" said Fluttershy. Immediately, Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash headed out the door to investigate, despite Fluttershy saying, "No, wait, stop!"

Once the three were outside, they looked around but saw nothing. They were about to go back inside when Applejack looked up and yelled, "Whoa Nelly! It's the monster!"

Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked up and gaped in shock. What all three were seeing was Giant eating the metal Fluttershy had given him.

"By the sun princess's horn…" Twilight muttered in shock.

Fluttershy's eyes widened as she realized what they were seeing and yelled, "It's okay! He isn't gonna hurt—"

But she was cut off as Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Applejack grabbed her, yelling, "Run, Fluttershy!" as they all immediately ran away, dragging a protesting Fluttershy with them.

Hearing three new voices, Giant stopped eating the metal Fluttershy had gotten for him, turned and saw three of the four-legged creatures, one of them with a horn on its head and another with wings on its back, which he recognized as the Rainbow Dash, while the other was wearing a hat, dragging Fluttershy away. Thinking they meant harm to her, he angrily jumped over.

Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were panicking as they began to run for Ponyville with Fluttershy in tow until Giant jumped in front of them, blocking their path, making them scream and quickly head back to Fluttershy's house to take refuge.

"It's okay!" Fluttershy said, trying to calm them down. "He isn't—" Their path to Fluttershy's house was blocked by Giant placing his hand in front of the door, causing the three to fall over with Fluttershy. Once she thought she had their attention, she said, "It's okay! He isn't gonna hurt me!"

Before Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash could ask her what she meant, they yelped as Giant grabbed them all, except for Fluttershy, by their tails and brought them up to his level.

"Giant, no!" Fluttershy shouted. "Don't squash them!" Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash trembled in fear as they stared at Giant, until he looked down as Fluttershy yelled, "DO NOT…squash them. Their names are Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. They're friends; we like them!"

The three gazed down at Fluttershy in surprise before they stared at Giant, who stared back at them, before saying, "Friends!" making the girls flinch and cover their heads.

"Put them down," Fluttershy told Giant. "Gently."

Giant set them down gently. Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash looked absolutely shell-shocked and like they were about to faint, as they started swaying and stammering. Fluttershy immediately headed into her house and came back out with three chairs. She quickly set each chair down behind Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash just as they fell backwards and into the chairs.

Sensing that an explanation was in order, Fluttershy asked, "Cup of tea?"

As one, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash nodded dumbly.

* * *

Moments later, after Fluttershy had made the tea and served it to Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash and explained how he had gotten here, the three continued to stare at Giant as he had gone back to eating the metal while Fluttershy calmly sat with them, watching him.

"S-S-S-S-So, wh-wh-when were ya p-p-plannin' on t-t-tellin' us about th-th-this, F-F-Fluttershy?" Applejack stammered out as her hooves shook, causing the teacup she was holding to shake as well.

"Well, preferably when Pinkie and Rarity were here with us," Fluttershy answered, as they watched Giant.

"So, where did he come from?" Twilight asked nervously. "Does he come from up there?"

"He doesn't know," Fluttershy answered. "He's like a little kid."

"Yeah, define little," Rainbow Dash said nervously.

"Does anypony else know about this?" asked Twilight.

"No," Fluttershy said, "you're the only ones who know he's with me."

"We have to tell somepony about this, Fluttershy," said Twilight, as Fluttershy took a sip of her tea.

At this, Fluttershy spat out her tea in shock and said, "What?! But why?"

"Fluttershy, ya don't know where he came from," said Applejack.

"Not to mention you don't know what the hay he is," Rainbow Dash chimed in.

Fluttershy frowned, as she said, "_He_ is my friend."

"I'm sorry, Fluttershy," Twilight said, "but I'm afraid Applejack and Rainbow Dash have a point. You may think he's cute and harmless, but what if he's not? What if he's actually some sort of alien war machine out to destroy our world?"

"Don't say that, Twilight! He'd never hurt anyone, not even a Parasprite!"

Twilight sighed and said, "I know he looks like he wouldn't hurt anyone, but still. We really should consider telling someone."

"Like?"

"Like Celestia, for starters."

"So she could send an army after him?"

"Fluttershy, it probably wouldn't be like that."

"Yes, it would! Please, Twilight, don't tell Celestia. _Please._"

Twilight stared at her for a moment, before she sighed and said, "Fine. I won't tell." She then said to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "C'mon, I think it's time we went home and got some sleep." As Fluttershy watched them leave, she heard Twilight muttering to herself, "By the time this is over, I'm going to need a lot of therapy."

Fluttershy sighed, before turning to Giant and saying, "Alright, Giant, bedtime!"

* * *

A moment later, she was watching him sleep when she glanced up at the sky and saw a pegasus in soldier regalia flying overhead.

_What's one of Celestia's guards doing all the way out here?_ She thought in confusion.

And then she heard a beeping sound. Did something fall off of Giant? She turned to see what it was. He was still whole.

_But why is he making that beeping sound?_ She wondered.

Suddenly, a panel on his arm slid open and a strange device popped out and began tracking the pegasus. The beeping sound was becoming insistent now as the pegasus flew closer and the device continued to track him.

Fluttershy was worried by now before she turned to look at Giant and saw him starting to moan and thrash as if he were in the throes of a bad dream. Suddenly, he woke up and the device withdrew.

Fluttershy looked up and saw that Celestia's guard had flown off before she turned to look at Giant with a completely shocked look on her face. He didn't seem to know what had happened, as he looked at her in confusion.

"It's alright," Fluttershy said to him, trying to remain calm, even though on the inside she was horrified by what she had just seen. "You were just having a nightmare. Go back to sleep."

Giant nodded, comforted by her words as she turned and began to walk away so he wouldn't see the nervous look on her face, and went back to sleep.

Fluttershy was absolutely shaken by what she had just seen. Unbidden, Twilight's words sprang to her mind.

_You may think he's cute and harmless, but what if he's not? What if he's actually some sort of alien war machine out to destroy our world?_

Fluttershy shook her head and thought, _No, no. Don't think about that, Fluttershy. Just go to bed and once you wake up tomorrow, you'll have forgotten all about it._

However, once she was in bed, she lay awake for a few hours, unable to take her mind off of what she had witnessed earlier and Twilight's words, until a couple hours later, she fell into a deep and troubled sleep. And her dreams were not kind to her.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so the scene that you saw written above before Fluttershy going to bed came from an early draft of The Iron Giant that I discovered when I was looking around on the Internet for a script of the movie and I read the scene and thought that maybe it might fit in here somehow. I mean Twilight just planted the seeds of doubt about Giant actually not being harmless in Fluttershy and seeing what almost happened made her worry even more about Twilight possibly being right.


	8. Nightmare

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813** and **Anonymous** for reviewing!

* * *

_Fluttershy saw lights raining down on a city, destroying it, and various robots that looked just like Giant marching into the destroyed city. And then she saw Giant, except he didn't look like himself. His head was half-hidden, covered by a dome, his eyes were red pinpricks, there were things protruding from his back, and his hands looked like weapons, ones which she couldn't recognize. There was something circular on his chest and it was glowing green._

_And then she found herself somewhere up in space staring down at a planet and unable to look away as it cracked with glowing lights and then exploded._

Fluttershy sprung awake and screamed.

Outside, Giant was sleeping peacefully, until a scream woke him up. It sounded like Fluttershy! Concerned for his little friend, he peeked into her room, wondering what was wrong. He saw her sitting up in bed, clutching the covers to her as if they would protect her from whatever had scared her and staring at something that only she could see, she was shaking all over, and her fur looked pale and was glistening with what looked like some sort of clear liquid.

She seemed almost unaware that he was there as she slowly looked around her room, before shutting her eyes, letting out an almost inaudible sigh of relief, and muttering, "Just a dream."

She immediately lied down in her bed and turned over to where she could see Giant and jumped, before she sighed and said, "Oh, Giant, it's just you. I didn't see you there."

"Fluttershy…okay?" He asked her.

"Y-Yes, Giant," said Fluttershy. "I-I'm okay. I-I just had a bad dream." Seeing his puzzled look and then remembering that he didn't know everything yet and she hadn't told him what a dream was earlier when he'd woken up, causing that strange device that had been tracking Celestia's guard to disappear, she said, "A dream is a sort of image that appears in your mind. There are good dreams and bad dreams. If you have a good dream, you see something good. But if you have a bad dream or a nightmare as it's called, something really terrible happens during it, especially if you went to sleep thinking bad thoughts, and sometimes it's hard to wake up from it. But when you do, you have the same reaction like I did earlier when I woke up." She then added, "But like I said, I'm okay now. I'm alright," and smiled at him.

Giant almost didn't seem assured by what Fluttershy had told him. There was something rather fake about her smile. Her smile usually reached her eyes and this smile didn't go all the way there. Her eyes, which always lit up when she smiled, were filled with worry and something else he couldn't identify.

Seeing that he didn't look entirely convinced that she was okay, Fluttershy said, "It's okay, Giant, I'm okay. Go back to sleep. Good night!"

Giant looked at her in concern once more before he nodded and left her window.

Once she was sure he was gone, her fake smile faded and she turned over onto her other side to think about her nightmare. It had been about Giant, yes, of that much she was certain. And he had been destroying what looked like some sort of planet. Twilight's words once again entered her mind.

_What if he's some sort of alien war machine out to destroy our world?_

Fluttershy had wanted to dismiss that nightmare as a product of what Twilight had told her, but after seeing that device that had slid out of Giant's arm and tracked one of Celestia's guards…

Well, Twilight had certainly been right about one thing. Giant was definitely a war machine. And it now brought up some questions for her.

Would she tell Twilight about what she had seen and dreamed about? No. Would she tell Giant about what her dream had been about? Definitely no. Would she keep what Giant was a secret from her friends? Yes. Could she pretend that she hadn't seen what almost happened and didn't have that nightmare? Well, that one she wasn't sure of. But if she looked like she hadn't seen or dreamed anything, she would be okay.

With her mind made up, she then went back to sleep and had no more nightmares.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the library, Twilight was wide awake and sitting at a desk, a pile of books on the left side and another on the right side. One book was open in front of her and she was using her magic to page through the book, searching for something but having no luck as she closed the book and placed it on the pile on the right side.

Now that she had seen Giant, she was busy trying to find out what kind of robot he was. She was busy looking through books on robots and alien war machines, but was having no luck so far. And on top of that, she was debating on whether or not she should send a letter to Celestia about Giant.

She sighed and rubbed her temples. She was starting to develop a huge headache and her body was screaming for sleep, but she had to find out what Giant was, even if it took her all night.

* * *

A/n: Fluttershy's nightmare was taken from a deleted scene where the Giant had a dream of his former life. If you're wondering where you can find it, look up 'Iron Giant Robot Dreams' on YouTube.


	9. Pinkie Pie and Rarity Meet the Giant

Thanks to **Anonymous** and **KTKomedy2813** for reviewing!

* * *

The next morning, Fluttershy was feeding her animals and when she saw Giant wanting to help, she allowed him to. The nightmare she'd had last night had shaken her up, but she made sure not to let it show.

She was still unsure about whether or not she should keep what she had seen last night a secret from her friends. If she told Twilight what she had seen, Twilight would send a letter to Celestia indefinitely telling her to send an army after Giant. If she didn't tell Twilight, would she be able to sleep at night, living in fear that someday Giant might regain his memories about what he was, and then wake up one day to find Ponyville destroyed and all of her friends dead because of him? It was a thought that she couldn't bear to think about. And try as she might, she couldn't believe that the Giant that was helping her feed the animals was the same as the Giant in her nightmare.

Fluttershy sighed. She needed to go down to Ponyville for a little bit, take her mind off of her nightmare and what she'd seen last night. More importantly, she needed to be alone with her thoughts.

After telling Giant she was going into Ponyville and instructing him to stay out of sight if someone other than one of her friends came by, she walked aimlessly through town until her hooves led her to Sugarcube Corner.

"Hiya, Fluttershy!" said Pinkie Pie, until she noticed the expression on Fluttershy's face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," said Fluttershy. "Just feeling upset, I guess."

"Come in and have a cupcake!" said Pinkie. "You might feel better."

"Okay," said Fluttershy, before she followed Pinkie in.

She wasn't the only one here at Sugarcube Corner; Rarity was here as well.

"Ah, Fluttershy, how are you, darling?" asked Rarity.

"Okay," Fluttershy answered.

"You don't look like you are," Rarity said.

"Yeah," Pinkie agreed, as she came over with a tray of cupcakes and set them down in front of Fluttershy and Rarity, "what's wrong, Fluttershy?"

"Well, something," said Fluttershy. She then said, "Look, there's something I have to show you two. And it's at my house."

"What is it?" Pinkie asked eagerly.

"Well, I can't tell you," said Fluttershy. "It's kind of a surprise."

"What are we waiting for?!" Pinkie said excitedly. "Let's go! I love surprises!"

With that, she practically dragged Fluttershy and Rarity out the door.

* * *

Seconds later, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie were approaching Fluttershy's home.

Once they approached the bridge to her house, Fluttershy stopped them and said, "Now, before I show you two the surprise, you have to promise me something."

"What is it?" asked Rarity.

"You have to promise not to scream, freak out, or tell anyone else about this," said Fluttershy. "Promise?"

Pinkie and Rarity then said the obligatory oath, "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Alright, here we go," said Fluttershy, before she led the way to the back of her house. Once there, she called out, "Giant, I'm home!"

That caught Rarity and Pinkie's attention.

"Uh, Fluttershy, who's Giant?" asked Rarity.

She got her answer soon enough when she saw 'Giant' appear behind Fluttershy, as her eyes widened and Fluttershy answered sheepishly, "He is."

Rarity just gaped in shock at the giant metal monster standing behind a calm Fluttershy, before she promptly fainted, just as Fluttershy knew she would. Pinkie, however, was in awe.

"How long was he hiding here?" asked Pinkie?

"Since the night I was babysitting the CMC," Fluttershy answered.

"Well, that's too long for someone to go unnoticed!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Let's throw a big welcome party right—"

"No!" Fluttershy said. "There's a reason he's gone unnoticed, Pinkie."

"Why's that?"

"Everypony's just not ready for him yet."

"Why?"

"Well, sometimes when somepony just doesn't understand what something like Giant is, they get scared or sometimes angry."

Once Rarity had recovered from fainting, she asked Fluttershy, "Who else knows he's with you?"

"You, Pinkie, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said.

"And nopony else aside from us knows?" asked Rarity.

"Of course nopony else knows, silly!" said Pinkie. "If they did, we'd be having a party!"

At this, Fluttershy and Rarity gave Pinkie an odd look, making Pinkie ask, "What?"

Rarity sighed and said, "Pinkie, you are so random."

Fluttershy noticed Giant giving her a questioning look and she said, "She's like that sometimes."

Just then, Twilight came running up.

"Fluttershy, thank Celestia I found you," said Twilight. "The army's coming to Ponyville!"

"What?" said Fluttershy. "You didn't tell Celestia, did you?!"

"Of course not! I never sent a letter to her. Someone must've seen Giant and tipped her off about it!"

Fluttershy's eyes widened. The guard from last night. He must've been the one who told Celestia.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Fluttershy. "If they find Giant…" But then, she stopped herself, thinking, _Don't finish that thought._

"Don't worry, Fluttershy," said Twilight. "We'll think of something. The question is how are we gonna hide him?"

Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, and Twilight thought for a moment, before Pinkie got an idea and said, "I've got it!"

"What is it, Pinkie?" Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight asked and Giant looked on inquiringly.

"We'll disguise him!" said Pinkie. She then gestured the others to her, as she said, "Now here's the plan!"

Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight huddled together with Pinkie and Giant leaned down to listen as Pinkie began whispering about what they were going to do.


	10. The Army Arrives

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813** and **Anonymous** for reviewing!

* * *

About a moment later, Fluttershy was standing in the square with Twilight beside her for support, waiting for the army to arrive, while Pinkie and Rarity were putting the finishing touches on their plan for Giant.

Soon enough, Pinkie and Rarity came up.

"Well?" asked Twilight.

"Taken care of," Rarity said.

"And you're certain it will work?" asked Fluttershy.

"Of course!" Pinkie said. "He's disguised so good they'll think he's just a statue!"

"I hope so," Fluttershy said, just as the army arrived.

"Alright, where is it?" a soldier asked.

"Where's what?" Twilight and Fluttershy asked innocently.

"You know perfectly well what," another soldier said. "The giant metal monster!"

"Oh, the metal monster," said Fluttershy. "Follow me." She led the army to her cottage and around the back, saying, "He's right back here."

Upon seeing what Giant was disguised as, Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged looks as if to say, "Was this the best Rarity and Pinkie could come up with?" before Twilight nudged her.

"That's the only thing that anyone was talking about these past few days," Fluttershy said, gesturing to the 'statue.' "A big statue of a metal monster with glowing eyes."

"See?" Twilight said. "There you have it! False alarm! It was just a statue!"

Shining Armor sighed before saying, "Alright, men, move out." But then, he turned and said, "Twily, I'd like to have a word with you."

"Sure, Shiny," Twilight said, before they both began walking back to Ponyville.

"You know, Twily, I'm sort of relieved that this was a false alarm," Shining Armor told his little sister as they made their way back to Ponyville to the library.

"Yeah, so am I," Twilight said.

"But, Twily," said Shining Armor, once they had arrived at the library and they had walked in, "if there really was a giant metal monster, you would tell me or Celestia, right?"

Twilight paused before saying, "Of course."

Inside, she felt guilty. It killed her to lie to her BBBFF, but she was holding to her promise not to tell anyone about Giant, and that extended to him even if it wasn't a Pinkie Promise.

"See you soon, Twily," her brother said.

"Bye, Shiny," said Twilight.

After her brother had walked out, Twilight peered out the window, waiting for him and the army to leave Ponyville. Once she was sure they were gone, she left the library and headed to Fluttershy's house.

Once there, Fluttershy came out and gave her a questioning look as if to say, "Are they gone?"

Twilight nodded once.

Fluttershy sighed in relief, before she turned to the disguised Giant and said, "Okay, you can move now!"

He unfroze and brushed off the metal decorations Rarity had placed on him.

* * *

About a moment later, Twilight was back in the library, looking through her books once again to find out what sort of robot Giant was. This was the last book on robots in the pile and if she didn't find anything on Giant in there, then she would have to go with Fluttershy's assumption that he was a friendly robot.

She was about to give up until she stopped on a page.

"Finally," she said, before she began reading. But as she did, her relieved smile was starting to change into a look of horror. "Oh no," she said. She immediately ran out of the library to get Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, while yelling, "Fluttershy, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy was in danger and she didn't realize it.


	11. He's A Weapon

Thanks to **Anonymous** and **KTKomedy2813** for reviewing!

* * *

Fluttershy was heading back to the secluded area behind her house with a sword that one of the soldiers had left behind.

She was still a long way off when Giant saw her. He then noticed that she was carrying something in her mouth. It was long and pointy. Suddenly, all it seemed like he could do was focus on the thing she was carrying. His vision seemed to turn red.

As Fluttershy carried the sword, she didn't notice Giant's eyes turn into small red pinpricks. But then she accidentally dropped the sword.

"Oopsie," she said, before she flew down to get it.

Just as she did, she failed to notice two bright lights shoot above her head. But Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie did as they hurried to her house. Seeing what was happening, they skidded to a stop and watched open-mouthed as two lights shot from his eyes at a tree.

Once the red in Giant's vision had faded, he looked slightly distressed.

Fluttershy, unaware of what had happened, had just picked up the sword and was about to carry it over, but then set it down when she noticed something was wrong with Giant. He looked dazed and a little unsettled.

"Giant, what's wrong?" asked Fluttershy, not having noticed the lights shooting above her head earlier when she had dropped the sword and was getting it, as well as the big gaping hole in the tree behind her.

Giant whimpered and put his hand to his head as if he had some sort of headache.

Fluttershy looked slightly concerned, before she inwardly shrugged and picked up the sword with her mouth, showing the sword to him, as she said in a muffled voice, "I found this, so maybe this will do for—"

Upon seeing the strange pointy object again, Giant's vision turned red again and Fluttershy cut herself off as she noticed his eyes change into red pinpricks, the way they had looked in her nightmare, and the sword dropped from her mouth in shock.

"Giant?" She said. His eyes started to flicker and grow brighter and a wave of pure terror washed over Fluttershy as she realized that some part of his memory must've been triggered and he was acting out on it. "Giant, wait!" She cried. "It's me! Fluttershy!"

Just as a pair of bright lights shot from his eyes, Rainbow Dash immediately flew over and rammed into Fluttershy, moving her out of the way. Just as she did, Fluttershy felt something hit her right wing followed by a burning pain. The two landed on the ground and tumbled into a bush where Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were hiding.

"Are you okay, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked in concern.

Fluttershy looked confused as she said, "How did you girls—"

Rainbow Dash covered her mouth and shushed her, before saying, "Stay down and follow us."

Fluttershy looked even more confused and wondered if Twilight and the others had found out what Giant was, but nodded and Pinkie said excitedly, "Ooh, are we playing hide and seek?"

Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack shushed Pinkie.

* * *

Meanwhile, Giant emerged from his daze, wondering what had happened. But then he discovered that Fluttershy was nowhere in sight. Puzzled, he looked around. Where was his little friend?

The Mane Six stayed low to the ground, crawling to a cluster of bushes and trees like soldiers under barbed wire.

As they did, Fluttershy whispered, "I was going to tell you about this sometime…"

"How could you keep this from us?" Rainbow Dash whispered furiously.

"Well, would you have let him stay with me if I had told you guys?"

"No!" Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack hissed angrily, making her flinch.

"That's why."

Once they were hiding behind the bushes and trees, Rainbow Dash quickly peeked out through the bushes and scanned the area before poking her head back in, unknowingly catching Giant's attention in the process, and whispering, "I don't see him anywhere. I think he's gone."

Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack heaved a sigh of relief, while Fluttershy looked puzzled and concerned, until Giant uprooted one of the trees and found them. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash took a protective stance in front of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie looked confused, before she shrugged and followed suit, growling at Giant like a dog.

"**GET BACK!**" Applejack yelled at him. Giant dropped the tree, taken aback by Applejack yelling at him. With a puzzled and hurt look, he reached toward Fluttershy, but Applejack snapped at him, "Ya deaf?! Ah said get back! Ah mean it!"

Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie backed away, shielding Fluttershy from him, confusing him even more, as he said with a hurt look, "No, stop. Why?"

"It was just an accident," Fluttershy protested. "He's our friend!"

But Twilight said, "He's a war machine, Fluttershy. Why do you think an army from Canterlot came here?"

"They wanted cupcakes!" said Pinkie Pie.

At this, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and even Giant gave Pinkie an odd look as if to say, 'What the hay?'

"What?" Pinkie asked, wondering why everypony was looking at her in confusion.

Twilight sighed and face hoofed, saying, "Back to the point."

Rainbow Dash then said to Fluttershy, "And if you're wondering what the point is, the point is that he's a weapon!" At this, Giant flinched, visibly horrified by what Rainbow Dash had called him. "A big weapon that walks!"

The five resumed backing away, still shielding Fluttershy, as Giant's horrified look changed into a hurt look, as he shook his head, not wanting to believe what Rainbow Dash had said.

"I-I-I not weapon," Giant said.

"Oh?" Applejack said with a frown, before she pointed at the tree Fluttershy had been near earlier. "Then what's that?!" Giant turned and looked shocked when he saw the hole in the tree, as Applejack added, "Ya didn't just almost do that to Fluttershy! Ya also hurt her!"

Hurt her? What did she mean hurt her? He turned back and then realized what Applejack meant. There was something wrong with one of Fluttershy's wings. It was crooked and there was a small hole in it that had some red liquid oozing from it and the area around the hole was charred black.

Fluttershy wondered why Giant was looking at her wing, before she looked at it and saw the wound.

She tried to hide her wing and forced a smile onto her face, as she said, "Giant, it's okay!"

Giant slowly backed away as he said, "No…" Rainbow Dash was right. He was a weapon.

"I-It's alright, I'm alright," Fluttershy said, trying to reassure him that she was okay. "It's nothing, it's just a little scrape!" But Giant wasn't having any of it as he turned and ran away. "Giant, wait!" Fluttershy cried, before she flew after him, despite her wounded wing and her friends calling, "Fluttershy, stop!"

Fluttershy ignored them, as she called, "Giant, come back!"

Fluttershy flew into the Everfree Forest, calling out for Giant every now and then.

She flew faster, ignoring the protests of pain her wounded wing was making, as she called, "Giant, where are you?" She looked everywhere as she called, "Giant, please come back!" Her wounded wing was starting to give out, as she cried, "Giant, please!"

Finally, her wounded wing gave out and she crash-landed on the ground.

_No, please,_ she thought desperately, trying to get back up into the air so she could find Giant. _Not now._

But her wing refused to obey. Fluttershy felt like bursting into helpless tears at this point. Her friend could be anywhere.

"Fluttershy?"

She turned with a hopeful smile, but her smile fell when she saw it was just Twilight and the others. Hot tears sprang to her eyes.

"He's gone," she muttered despondently. "I can't find him anywhere."

"Let's go back, Fluttershy," Twilight said gently.

"I can't," Fluttershy said. "Giant—"

"Will be okay, Fluttershy," Applejack said. "We'll take over for ya. But, right now, we have to get ya to a hospital."

Fluttershy hesitated. She knew they were lying about taking over her search for Giant, but she did need a doctor for her wing. She nodded reluctantly and began to walk to Ponyville with her friends.

As she did, she looked back into the forest and muttered, "Please be safe, dear friend."

* * *

It was late at night when Twilight and the others had left Fluttershy's house after getting her to the doctor to get her wing taken care of (they told part of the truth about what happened to her wing, saying that her wing had gotten hit by a lava rock) and bringing her back to her house and convincing her to get some sleep, promising that they would find Giant tomorrow.

Twilight had arrived back at the library, troubled by the day's events. She was passing the book, which was left open to the page she had found Giant in, and glanced over at it briefly, before she stopped and headed back to the table she had left the book on. There was one passage following the last passage she had been reading that had revealed that Giant was a war machine, as she had feared, before she had run out to get the girls and find Fluttershy before something bad happened to her.

"'However,'" she read, "'this particular war machine will _only_ react defensively if confronted with a weapon.'"

_But Fluttershy didn't have anything with her when Giant almost vaporized her twice,_ she thought.

But then, she remembered seeing something drop from Fluttershy's mouth before Rainbow Dash had flown over and gotten her out of the way, and it had looked like a sword.

"The sword," she said to herself. "He reacted to the sword. He was just being defensive. He only reacted to the sword."

_Oh, Celestia, what have we done?_ She thought, realizing that Giant could be anywhere now that he had run off after those awful accusations she, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had given him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Giant walked aimlessly through the Everfree Forest, horrified by what he had done to Fluttershy. He didn't care where he was going so long as it was someplace away from Fluttershy. He was a danger to her and what Rainbow Dash and Applejack said was true.

_The point is that he's a weapon! A big weapon that walks!_

_Ya didn't just almost do that to Fluttershy! Ya also hurt her!_

Over and over again, Rainbow Dash and Applejack's hurtful words rang through his mind, more specifically the word 'weapon.' He didn't know what a weapon was. Fluttershy had never told him what a weapon was, but the way Rainbow Dash had said the word made it sound awful, which it probably was.

He stopped for a moment, trying to block out those awful words and the way Fluttershy's wing looked, and sadly glanced back over his shoulder. In the distance, he saw Fluttershy's cottage. Right then and there, he couldn't help but wonder if she hated him now, before he sadly turned away and trudged off.


	12. Dragon Fight Part 1

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813**, **Anonymous**, **Guest**, and **cheerful** for reviewing!

* * *

The next day, Twilight received word from Celestia that a dragon had taken up residence on a mountain and was terrorizing any animal within sight.

The one thing that surprised Twilight so much after telling Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy was that Fluttershy had agreed to come with to help with the dragon problem. It was enough to convince them that something was wrong with Fluttershy.

Normally, Fluttershy would refuse to come with and help face an adult dragon—in fact, she was afraid of them—and to agree to come with to face the dragon meant that Fluttershy wasn't acting like herself at all. And chances were her behavior had everything to do with Giant running away yesterday.

And now, here they were on the mountain, facing the dragon. Reasoning with it had failed and now they were in a fight with the dragon that they had been trying to avoid. Things had gotten worse when the dragon saw Fluttershy. The dragon began to smack Fluttershy around and she wasn't putting up a fight at all.

Twilight and Applejack flinched as they watched Fluttershy getting beaten up by the dragon, before Twilight said, "Rainbow Dash, fly into the Everfree Forest. See if you can find Giant!"

"Find Giant," Rainbow Dash said. "Got it!"

With that, Rainbow Dash flew off of the mountain into the Everfree Forest.

"Giant!" She called, as she flew through, "Giant, where are you?"

From afar, Giant had been staring off into the distance sadly until he heard Rainbow Dash calling out to him. He turned and saw her burst through the trees. Her mane was tangled and there were branches and leaves stuck in it and she looked panicked about something.

Upon seeing him, she let out a relieved sigh and said, "There you are." She began to fall, but Giant caught her and lifted her up so she was meeting his eyes. "I…never thought…I'd say this…" Rainbow Dash said, as she panted, "but…boy…am I glad…I found you. You…You have…You have to come back."

Giant looked puzzled. He'd hurt Fluttershy. Why was Rainbow Dash telling him to come back after what he'd done to Fluttershy?

"Why?" He asked.

"It wasn't your fault what you did to Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash answered. "You didn't mean to hurt her. Twilight found that out last night after…" Rainbow Dash immediately decided to leave out taking Fluttershy to the doctor as the only thing that would do was upset Giant even more than he already had been, before she said, "Fluttershy's been a wreck ever since you left. She hasn't been acting like herself and it's extending to fighting a dragon, a big creature that breathes fire, and…" She sighed and then decided to get her point across, "She wants you to come back, Giant. She needs you. And if you don't come back…now that we're facing a dragon, she might die."

Giant looked at Rainbow Dash in confusion. Die. Another word he hadn't heard before.

"Die is…" Rainbow Dash said, before she began to think up a way to explain it. "It's when you go to sleep! Except you go into a permanent sleep, one you never wake up from! It's a natural way of life and sometimes it happens too soon! And we don't want this to happen to Fluttershy! Which is why we need you to come back!"

"Where Fluttershy?" He asked.

Rainbow Dash turned and pointed at the mountain, as she said, "You see that mountain over there? She's right up there with Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Twilight! C'mon, we gotta hurry!"

With that, the two ran/flew to the mountain, Rainbow Dash leading the way and praying to Celestia that they wouldn't be too late. Once they reached the mountain, Rainbow Dash flew up while Giant began climbing up as fast as he could, concern and fear for Fluttershy fueling him. Rainbow Dash arrived at the top of the mountain where she had last seen Fluttershy being brutally beaten by the dragon, followed by Giant, just in time for them both to see Fluttershy falling after the dragon had swatted her.

Fluttershy was resigned to her fate. If this was the way it would be, so be it. But, as she fell, she heard loud pounding footsteps, ones that she knew all too well. She looked up to see Giant running toward her and leaping with one hand outstretched to catch her. She landed on his hand and he set her down.

Fluttershy gazed up at him in shock, saying, "Giant? How did you—"

She heard Rainbow Dash clear her throat, before she turned to her and saw Rainbow Dash giving her an impish smile as she said, "You're welcome!"

Fluttershy smiled gratefully at Rainbow Dash before looking up at Giant, wanting to hug his finger. She saw him looking at her bandaged wing, but she saw no horror in his eyes. Only concern and regret for what he did.

"I'm okay, Giant," Fluttershy told him and gave him a smile, a real smile that Giant was pleased to note wasn't fake at all.

"I am not a weapon," he told her.

Fluttershy gave him a tearful smile before climbing onto his hand and hugging his finger, mumbling, "I thought I'd never see you again."

The moment was short-lived when a blast of fire hit Giant on the back, causing him to cry out.

_Oh, right,_ Fluttershy thought, _The dragon._

"C'mon, Giant!" Fluttershy yelled. "Let's get out of here! Run!"

Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack ran away and Rainbow Dash flew away. Giant immediately shielded Fluttershy in his hands and began running as they all tried to escape the dragon.

As the dragon chased after Giant, firing at him, Fluttershy frantically began directing Giant to dodge, as she shouted, "Left, left!" Giant followed her directions only to get hit by another blast from the dragon, making Fluttershy shout, "No, no! The other left!" But then she looked ahead, gasped, and yelled, "Giant, look out for the—"

But it was too late as Giant ran off the mountain and they both began to fall. Fluttershy screamed and covered her eyes, until she heard a beeping sound and the wind stopped rushing in her ears. She uncovered her eyes to see that they had both stopped falling and were frozen in midair, before Giant began to rise and Fluttershy noticed fire shooting from the bottoms of his feet.

"You can fly?" She said in disbelief. As they started to rise higher, Fluttershy cheered, "You can fly!"

Meanwhile, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Applejack, who had seen Giant and Fluttershy run off the mountain, quickly hurried over to the edge just in time to watch in awe as Giant flew upward with Fluttershy.

"Wow," was all Pinkie and Rainbow Dash could say, while Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack just stared upward, Rarity and Applejack surprised and Twilight awestruck.

As the two flew, Fluttershy said, "Try pointing your arms straight like this!" before mimicking Rainbow Dash's pose.

Giant obliged and mimicked Fluttershy. As they flew, the dragon pursued them, firing at them. Giant covered Fluttershy's head with his hand, shielding her from the fire, before he looked up and the familiar red filled his vision as a crosshair aimed at the dragon.

"No, no," Giant said, forcing himself to snap out of it, the incident of what happened to Fluttershy still fresh in his mind.

The dragon continued chasing them, until Giant stopped and flew backwards flying past the dragon, which let out a roar of frustration.

"Oh, that was close," Fluttershy said, as they flew away, until the dragon spotted them and fired at Giant, hitting him, causing the two to begin falling.

The girls, who had been tracking Fluttershy and Giant's progress and were now seeing them falling, screamed, "Fluttershy!"

After Twilight quickly calculated where they were going to land, she shouted, "Come on!" and began to run down the mountain, followed by Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.

As Fluttershy and Giant fell, Giant pulled her to his chest before they hit the ground hard. He tumbled across the ground until he skidded to a stop on his back.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were the first to arrive on the scene. A cloud of dust had obscured the area, making it hard to see, as they both coughed.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight called out. "Fluttershy!"

"Where are you, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash called out.

The dust was slowly starting to settle, allowing them both to see Giant lying unconscious on the ground. The two began to run/fly toward him, until they saw a figure lying a few feet away from Giant.

"Oh no," they both muttered, recognizing the figure.

Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie ran up.

"What's wrong, Twi—" Pinkie began, until she, Rarity, and Applejack saw what Twilight and Rainbow Dash had seen.

"Oh," Applejack and Rarity both said.


	13. Dragon Fight Part 2

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813**, **Anonymous**, and **cheerful **for reviewing!

* * *

Giant groaned as he slowly woke up, until he noticed something. Fluttershy was gone.

He made a puzzled noise as he checked both of his hands before he sat up. Just as he did, he turned and saw Fluttershy lying on the ground a short distance away from him. She looked asleep, but he seemed to realize there was something wrong. She was still. Too still.

He gasped, before he reached over and gently nudged her with his fingers, but she didn't respond. A horrified look crossed his face. She was…what had Rainbow Dash called that word? Dead.

"Fluttershy," he whimpered, before he began sobbing as he buried his face in his hands, while Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie could only look on sadly and mutter, "Oh, Fluttershy…"

The five froze as they heard the roar of the dragon and then quickly took cover behind a rock, while Giant just remained kneeling near Fluttershy's lifeless body, his head still buried in his hands, almost unaware of the dragon, as it fired a blast at its back. Just as it did, something within Giant snapped. The dragon had done this to Fluttershy. The dragon killed her.

Grief turned into rage as he shook in fury before he looked up and growled. It was then that the girls noticed the dent on the side of Giant's head had automatically fixed itself.

"Uh-oh," Rainbow Dash said.

Giant let out an infuriated scream that was enough to strike fear into the girls' hearts and cause Rainbow Dash's wings to fold to her side and make her fall onto her back, looking almost like Fluttershy the last time they had gone to face a dragon, as he turned, giving Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity a good look at him.

His eyes had become red pinpricks, the way they had looked yesterday when they had run to Fluttershy's house before he had fired at a tree Fluttershy had been in front of. He raised his right arm at the dragon and the arm changed into a cannon, which fired at the dragon. The dragon immediately flew out of the way, avoiding the blast, while the girls just gaped in shock as they looked out from behind the rock.

"What was that?" asked Pinkie in shock.

"Not good," Twilight nervously answered.

Giant's left hand then changed into a claw radiating a green light. The dragon immediately flew away so that the claw was aiming at the rock the girls were hiding behind.

"What's that?" Rarity asked nervously.

"That's the signal to get outta here and get goin'!" Applejack answered, before they immediately broke cover and ran away, as Giant fired a ball of green electricity at the rock they had previously been hiding behind, causing it to disintegrate.

Once they had taken cover in several different places, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity behind rocks and Rainbow Dash in a tree, they then watched as Giant's head sank halfway into his neckline, a glass dome covering his head, the armor on his chest removed, revealing advanced weaponry and a hole in the center, and three tentacle-like things emerged from his back and started firing lasers before he began chasing after the dragon, shooting haphazardly. The girls watched him go, before they remembered Fluttershy and rushed over to her.

Once they had gotten over to her, Rainbow Dash heard her breathing faintly and said, "She's breathing! She's still alive!"

"Well, that's a relief," Twilight said.

But then Pinkie pointed out the obvious as she gestured to the enraged Giant, who was chasing after the dragon, and said, "But he doesn't know that."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Rarity.

"There's nothin' more we can do for him right now," said Applejack. "Right now, let's just focus on gettin' Fluttershy back to Ponyville."

Twilight and Rarity both used their magic to drape the unconscious Fluttershy over Applejack's back, before they began to slowly make their way down the mountain. As they did, they didn't notice Fluttershy stir.

* * *

Fluttershy slowly woke up.

_What happened?_ She thought. The first thing she noticed was that she was draped over Applejack's back. Then she remembered falling with Giant. _If I'm okay, where's Giant?_

She glanced up at the mountain and saw the dragon flying away from something and then Fluttershy got a good look at what the dragon was flying away from. It was Giant, looking just the way he did in the nightmare she had two nights ago.

"Giant…" She said softly. Then she spoke up, loud enough for Applejack, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash to hear, "Turn around, Applejack."

"Fluttershy, you're okay!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Turn around!" Fluttershy demanded. "We have to help him!"

"Have ya gone crazy, Fluttershy?!" Applejack snapped at her. "You're lucky enough to even be alive! We're takin' ya back to Ponyville right now!"

But then they had to stop because they were at a crevice and there was no way to go but across it. Luckily, there was a tree nearby, so Applejack set Fluttershy down so she could buck the tree and knock it over.

Once it had been knocked over and placed across the crevice, it was then that Pinkie said, "Hey, where's Fluttershy?"

Puzzled, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash turned to where Applejack had placed Fluttershy, only to find she wasn't there, before Rainbow Dash turned and yelled, "Fluttershy!"

Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie turned and saw Fluttershy running up the mountain to where Giant was.

"Fluttershy, no!" They yelled, before Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie began running after Fluttershy while Rainbow Dash flew after her.

Fluttershy ran up the mountain as fast as she could, even leaping from ledge to ledge like a mountain goat. Once she turned another corner, she saw Giant standing at the edge of the mountain as the dragon flew away. Remembering what she'd seen in her nightmare, Fluttershy picked up the pace, as she ran through some gathering fog to Giant. As she did, the hole in the center of Giant's chest started to warm up and aim at the fleeing dragon.

Fluttershy ran between his legs and stopped near his foot as she screamed, "Giant, no! **STOOOOPPPPPP!**"

Upon hearing her voice, Giant turned to her, before a giant ball of plasma flew out of his chest and narrowly missed the dragon, creating a huge explosion that caused the sky to glow green for a moment.

Seeing the explosion, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack stopped and shielded their eyes for a moment.

* * *

Down in Ponyville, everypony had stopped what they were doing to stare at the mountain and the sky in shock, wondering what in Celestia's good name was happening up there.

* * *

Back up on the mountain, Fluttershy stared at the fading explosion in shock, breathing heavily, before she turned to Giant, only to find herself staring down the end of the cannon that Giant was aiming at her.

"No, wait," Fluttershy said, upon seeing the cannon starting to warm up and glow. "It's me, Fluttershy. Remember?" She struggled to keep her voice calm, as she said, "Remember what I told you, Giant. Bad guys like hurting good guys both outside and inside. The bad guys like doing that. But you don't have to be a bad guy. It's your choice what you want to be. You have to choose." Knowing that this wasn't a good idea, but not caring at the moment, Fluttershy walked closer to his foot, mindful of the cannon following her move, and hugged it, as she said, "Choose." Then she mumbled softly, resting her forehead against his foot and feeling tears in her eyes, "Don't do this, Giant. I know you're in there somewhere. Please. Come back."

She began crying softly just as Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Applejack arrived on the scene, stopping at a distance when they saw a crying Fluttershy hugging Giant's foot as he aimed his cannon at her. Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack stared on, wondering whether or not they should run over and get Fluttershy out of the way and risk getting vaporized themselves, before they turned to Twilight, but saw Twilight looking on uncertainly.

"You think we should—" Rainbow Dash began to ask Twilight.

"No," said Twilight, without taking her eyes off of Fluttershy and Giant. "Something's telling me wait and see."

Fluttershy, unaware that Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Applejack were looking on, unsure of what to do, continued to cry as she hugged Giant's foot. She was starting to give up hope that Giant would recognize her.

"I love you, Giant," she whispered sadly, before she let go of his foot and backed away a few steps, continuing to cry as she bowed her head to the ground, silently waiting for him to kill her.

"Fluttershy…" Giant said as the red from his vision faded and his eyes changed back to normal.

Fluttershy stopped crying when she heard Giant say her name, before she opened her eyes and looked up, watching as the cannon slowly powered down, including his claw. The dome covering Giant's head retracted, as did the tentacle-like weapons on his back. There was a sad look on his face as he watched the claw on his left arm change back into a hand, followed by the cannon on his right arm. Once the chest armor was put back into place, covering up the weaponry on his chest, he looked at Fluttershy sadly, realizing how close he had come to almost killing her again.

"It's okay, Giant, it's okay," Fluttershy said, before hugging his foot again. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm here."

"Sorry," he said as he reached down and petted her mane.

"I know," Fluttershy responded. "I know."

Realizing it was safe to go over, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack walked over to them.

"We're sorry for yellin' at ya yesterday," Applejack told Giant.

"At least that dragon won't be hanging around here terrorizing any animal anymore," Twilight said. "You scared him enough to convince him not to come back." Noticing a worried look on his face, she quickly added, "But don't worry! That's a good thing!"

"Well, I don't know about you guys," Rainbow Dash said, "but I think it's time we went home."

Once they had gotten back to Ponyville, Pinkie had immediately invited Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash to the 'celebrating the dragon being scared off' party, before heading to Sugarcube Corner to begin preparations. Soon enough, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash had left until it was just Twilight, Fluttershy, and Giant.

Fluttershy and Giant were about to head back to her house, but Twilight said, "Fluttershy, I'd like to have a word with you."

"Okay," Fluttershy said. She and Twilight began to walk away. Fluttershy noticed Giant looking concerned, before she gave him a smile that told him it was okay and said, "Don't worry, Giant. Go on back home. I'll be right there."

Giant looked a little hesitant but nodded before walking to Fluttershy's house.

Once he had disappeared behind her cottage, Fluttershy asked, "What is it, Twilight?"

"I don't think you'll be able to keep Giant a secret for much longer," Twilight told her. "Everypony probably saw that big explosion in the sky today and are wondering what happened on the mountain."

Fluttershy sighed. She knew this was coming.

Then she said, "It's only a matter of time before ponies start asking what caused it."

They both stared contemplatively into the distance, watching as the sun began to set.

What neither of them knew was that Giant was eavesdropping on their conversation. He was curious about what Twilight needed to talk to Fluttershy about. He had caught snippets of their conversation such as, "wondering what happened on the mountain," and "only a matter of time before ponies start asking." He was curious about why they were looking into the distance and turned to see what they were looking at. He saw that they were looking at the bright circle in the sky that was slowly starting to descend.

They were both silent as they stared at the descending bright circle.

Thinking that they were done talking, Giant was about to head to his secluded area, before he saw Twilight turn to Fluttershy and ask gently, "What do you wanna do?" There was a look on her face as if to say that she'd support whatever decision Fluttershy was going to make.

Giant looked concerned. What did his little friend want to do? He noticed that Fluttershy hadn't answered Twilight and was still staring at the bright circle, which made him worry. What if she wanted to send him away? He didn't want her to send him away. If she did…

But then Fluttershy finally answered without turning to look at Twilight, "We'll just tell everypony what happened tomorrow and reveal Giant to them."

Giant looked puzzled, wondering if she was serious. Did she really mean it? Did this mean he was finally going to go into Ponyville and meet the other ponies that lived there?

"We were able to cover up what happened to my wing yesterday," Fluttershy said. "But we can't come up with a story that will explain away what everypony saw earlier."

"That's true," Twilight answered. Then she asked, "You gonna tell him about what's gonna happen tomorrow?"

"Yes," Fluttershy answered.

Giant then went to his secluded area as Twilight and Fluttershy said good-bye to each other.

Just before Twilight left, she asked Fluttershy, "See you at Pinkie's party tonight?"

Fluttershy nodded, saying, "Of course," before they both went their separate ways, Twilight to her home and Fluttershy to hers.

Once Fluttershy was inside of her house, she lied down on the couch to rest for a while, exhausted from the day's events. But the one thought that was able to make her rest easy was that Giant was back and that everything was okay for the time being.


	14. Confession

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813** and **cheerful** for reviewing!

* * *

That night, after the party, Fluttershy went out to Giant, carrying a blanket and a pillow with her. Everypony had been asking about what happened at the mountain during the party and Twilight and Fluttershy had both promised that they would tell them what it was tomorrow.

"Fluttershy?" Giant said, seeing her coming out with a blanket and pillow.

"Hi, Giant," Fluttershy said as she set her blanket and pillow down beside him.

"Okay?" He asked her.

Fluttershy nodded and said, "Yes, Giant, I'm okay. Really, I am." She was silent before saying, "We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." Noticing Giant's inquiring look, Fluttershy said, "Everypony's been asking about what they saw on the mountain earlier today. I think it's time they met you."

"Ponyville?" He asked her.

"Yes, Giant," Fluttershy answered. "You're going to Ponyville tomorrow."

She had just set up her blanket and pillow on the ground and was about to lie down beside Giant, but yelped in surprise when Giant picked her up and set her down on his chest, along with her blanket and pillow.

"Thanks," Fluttershy said, smiling at him. Her smile faded, before she said, "Giant, there's something I have to tell you."

"Hmm?" He asked her.

She took a deep breath before saying, "I already knew what you were two nights ago after that nightmare I had." She then went on, "Before I went to bed, I was watching you sleep for a little bit and while I was, a soldier was flying above you. Then something odd happened. Some sort of panel in your arm opened revealing a device that was tracking the guard. It scared me and it only disappeared after you woke up and the soldier left." She then added, "Then I had that nightmare."

Fluttershy stopped, not wanting to go on, but Giant made a 'go on' gesture.

"The nightmare was about you," she told him. "What you transformed into today. I saw you destroying a planet."

She saw Giant looking at her sadly as if to say, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I guess the reason I didn't tell you was that I didn't want you to worry," Fluttershy said. "But then I did all the worrying. Worrying about you regaining your memories one day, worrying that I'd wake up to find Ponyville destroyed and all my friends dead someday, and worrying about what would happen if Celestia found out about you and sent an army here." She sighed and rested her head on his chest, mumbling, "I'm sorry."

Giant petted her mane like he had earlier today and said, "It's…okay."

She smiled at him again, before she said, "Well, good night, Giant. I'll see you in the morning."

As they both settled into sleep, Fluttershy felt a wave of sadness sweep over her. She didn't know what it was, but she had the strangest feeling that tomorrow might be the last time she'd see her friend alive.


	15. No Following

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813** and **cheerful** for reviewing!

* * *

Early the next morning, Fluttershy got up and put her blanket and pillow back inside the house.

"Well, today's the day," muttered Fluttershy.

She then headed down to Ponyville. Once there, she found Rainbow Dash.

"Is everypony ready?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yep, we've got them ready," Rainbow Dash said.

"Okay," Fluttershy said, before heading back to her house.

Once she reached her home, she said to Giant, "Alright, Giant. It's time."

She led the way to Ponyville, before she said to all the gathered ponies, "Here he is."

Everypony stared on in awe. So this was the metal creature that had sent the dragon packing and was their savior.

Suddenly, Pinkie began shaking.

"Uh-oh, Pinkie's Pinkie Sense is going off," Fluttershy said, before she explained to Giant, who looked puzzled, "This happens to her when she senses something's going to happen."

"It's a doozy!" Pinkie said. "There's something big coming!" She stopped shivering for a moment, seeing everypony looking at her in confusion, as she clarified, "And I don't mean Fluttershy's friend." She resumed shivering as she added, "And it's going to kill us all!"

At that moment, Twilight ran out of the library in a panic.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Asteroid…coming," Twilight said, panting. "We're…done for."

Fluttershy's eyes widened in horror while everypony looked scared.

"Oh no," Fluttershy mumbled, as she stared up into the sky. Noticing Giant looking at her in concern, she then explained, "It's an asteroid. When it comes down, everypony will die."

Everypony was beginning to panic when they saw the asteroid starting to appear. Giant gazed at them all for a moment. In that instant, it became clear what he had to do, as a determined look appeared on his face and he looked up at the sky.

Rarity and Applejack were keeping their sisters close, as Rarity asked, "Shouldn't we get to a shelter or something?"

"It wouldn't matter, Rarity," Applejack answered grimly. "We're dead either way."

Fluttershy looked sad until she heard Giant say, "I…fix."

Immediately, she walked over to Giant, noticing him staring up at the sky.

"Giant?" She asked.

Giant bent down and said, as he petted her mane, "Fluttershy." She held his finger before he pointed at her chest as he told her, "You…stay." He gestured to himself, as he said, "I…go." Fluttershy sadly looked down, until Giant put his finger under her chin and tilted it up so she was looking at him, before he told her, "No…following."

Fluttershy sadly hugged his finger, before she let go of it as he pulled away. She then watched as he took a few steps backward and looked up.

Tears began to well up into her eyes and fall freely as she told him, "I love you."

She then watched as he took off into space. As she watched him fly up, she was almost unaware of Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie moving to stand beside her and watch.

* * *

Out in space, as Giant flew closer to the asteroid, he recalled what Fluttershy had told him yesterday.

"_It's your choice what you want to be."_

"Good guy," Giant said, before shutting his eyes and colliding with the asteroid, causing a giant explosion.

* * *

Back in Ponyville, everypony watched the explosion except for Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack, who were shielding their eyes from the blast, while Fluttershy had turned away, covering her eyes.

As the explosion started to fade, the girls looked up. Everypony began to cheer and Fluttershy smiled before she looked up at the sky to search for a sign of her friend, but her smile faded, as she saw nothing in the sky except for the fading explosion, before she immediately assumed the worst.

"No," she whispered, before she turned away and began to cry, while her friends hugged her.

Everypony stopped cheering the minute they saw only the fading explosion and realized the same thing as Fluttershy. Some ponies bowed their heads in respect, while others just continued to gaze at the explosion.

Fluttershy gently pulled out of her friends' embraces and then stared off into the distance at the explosion, as she continued to cry.


	16. The Last Giant Piece

Thanks to **KTKomedy2813** and **The Time Traveler** for reviewing!

* * *

A few days had passed since Fluttershy's friend sacrificed himself and a statue of him had been created and placed in the center of Ponyville. Beneath the statue was a plaque inscribed, 'Dedicated In Memory of The Iron Giant by the town of Ponyville.' As was her custom, Fluttershy placed two roses—one red representing love and one yellow representing friendship—on the base of the statue.

Just as she did, Twilight walked up to her.

"Hey, Fluttershy," said Twilight.

"Hi, Twilight," Fluttershy answered.

Twilight took a deep breath and said, "Fluttershy, I was in the Everfree Forest today and I found this."

She used her magic to open up her saddlebag and take something out. She gave it to Fluttershy, who examined it closely. Fluttershy's heart almost broke when she recognized what it was. It was a screw from Giant's jaw.

"I thought maybe you'd like to have it," Twilight said.

Fluttershy hugged the screw close to her chest, as she said softly, "I miss him."

She stared sadly at the statue, before she and Twilight went their separate ways to their homes.

* * *

Later on, Twilight was almost finished writing her friendship report for Fluttershy, including an explanation about what had happened the past week. She had just finished writing about Giant's sacrifice and was trying hard not to cry, but failing as she stopped writing every few seconds to dry her eyes.

"I guess if there was one thing Fluttershy taught Giant," Twilight wrote, "it's our choice what we want to be. We can either choose to be what we were originally intended to be or we can choose to be something else entirely. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

* * *

That night, Fluttershy was fast asleep in bed when a sound woke her up. She looked at the box she had placed the screw in on a table by her bedside, only to find the box had tipped over and was empty. She gasped and began searching for it, looking under her bed. She wondered where it was, but then heard a tapping sound coupled with a beeping sound, one that she knew all too well.

_It can't be,_ she thought, before she turned to the window where the beeping and tapping sound was coming from.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the screw flashing and beeping and tapping against the window, trying to get out.

_He's alive!_ She thought, as a big grin spread across her face. _Oh my Celestia, he's alive!_

She walked over to the window and opened it. She then watched as the screw "jumped" out the window, hopped down the roof, landed on the ground, and began to roll away to begin its long journey back to its owner.

"Good-bye, my friend," Fluttershy said, as she waved good-bye to the screw. "See you soon!"

She watched as the screw rolled away until it disappeared into a patch of tall grass and she went back to bed. As she slipped into a deep and peaceful sleep, she had a dream.

_She dreamed that she was flying across a frozen tundra somewhere on the other side of Equestria, seeing a leg hopping, an arm dragging itself, and a bolt rolling across the snow-covered plains. Somewhere in the distance, she could see something. She flew straight ahead of the body parts. Once she flew over a hill, she saw a head—Giant's head, to be specific—with an antenna sticking out the top of it, lying on the snow plains and half-buried in the snow, and various other body parts making their way to the head. Giant's head opened its eyes. It smiled at her, seeming to see her, and she smiled back._

As Fluttershy slept, Angel opened his eyes and looked around. He was about to go back to sleep until he saw his owner fast asleep in her bed with a serene smile on her face.


End file.
